Page 30 of Found Through Fire

I realized when we were talking earlier that she is completely wrapped up in her family, so if Willow and I become close, I’m going to be around them anyways. I let her know that I could stay, and a look of shock crossed over her face before she had the chance to cover it up again.

Her dad, Michael, showed up soon after and greeted me. “It’s nice to finally be able to meet you,” he said while shaking my hand. He didn’t make the situation weird or try to force anything on me. He just acknowledged that he knew about me.

Sitting down for dinner was like being in another country, and I didn’t speak the language. The food was the best that I ever had, and I realize that maybe there is another perk to having a sister that I actually don’t mind being around. But watching them interact with each other is something that I thought only existed on TV shows.

I sat in silence, quietly observing. They pulled me into the conversation occasionally, but didn’t make me feel like I had to speak. They were so comfortable with each other, and even an outsider could tell that they genuinely liked being together.

When the conversation went to Michael’s business and their job, I wondered if he wanted Willow to be a part of it—or maybe he just wanted to leave it to his biological kids. When they talked about her “freelancing” job, they seemed like it was the most normal thing in the world. I noticed her dad reminded her of some rules, but she just reassured him, and they quickly moved on.

I’m still hesitant about this “happy family” shit. There’s no way they’re okay with her going to a different country and possibly taking down a cartel by herself. I just met her and saw a preview of what she could do, and evenI’mconcerned about her. It’s weird as fuck.

Her brothers have turned out to be alright guys. I don’t know if I was expecting them to be rigid because of the military thing, but they joke with each other all throughout dinner. I’m still not sure what to make of Ben; he is completely different from the other two. Ben is happy and friendly, but then when he was talking about the job they went on today, he told us in detailabout removing someone’s fingers for incentive to give him information.

Tell is the most laid back; you can see that out of the three of them, he is more comfortable taking the lead.

When dinner first started, I thought Gig was the cold, calculated one. He was almost as quiet as I was while observing them, but you could see the looks that he gave his family and the fact that he participated in the conversation, just with fewer, well-thought-out responses. He and I have the most in common out of the three.

It’s hard to miss how Willow’s dad and brothers all worship her. They give her a hard time, but you can hear how their voices soften a small amount when they speak to her. She is clearly the baby of the family.

“When is the garage going to be ready for the grand opening?” Michael asks Willow as he dishes out seconds for dinner. At this point, everyone except for Willow is on their second plate.

“Next month. The club and the garage should be done around the same time. I’m debating if I should spread the openings out or just have one big party to celebrate both. I should be back in time. I don’t see this job taking more than one, two weeks, max. Especially if I can just get her out and not have to take out everyone. I feel like taking down an entire drug lord’s commune is going to be a pain in the ass. I would rather just get in and out,” she replies like it’s a normal day for her, and for all I know, it is.

“You should open the garage as soon as possible. John is going stir crazy, and he needs something to do. He finished giving everything at the house a tune up, and I caught him taking apart Ben’s dirt bike on the way over because he said it needed some work,” Tell says while digging into his food.

“You saw him taking apart my bike and you didn’t stop him?” Ben asks.

“No, I didn’t want him to start on my shit next. When I saw what he was doing to yours, I had time to go lock my stuff in the other garage. I appreciate your sacrifice, though,” Tell says as he looks up at Ben.

“Last time he ‘tuned up’ something for me, he was working on it for a month and a half and ordered a shit ton of parts that I didn’t need…and then billed me! Do you know how weird it was to get that invoice on base when I didn’t even know he started the project?” Ben asks as he starts rubbing his hand over his short hair out of frustration.

“You keep doing that when you’re stressed, you’re going to be the first out of the three of us to go bald. Actually, thinking about it, keep doing it. Maybe people will be able to tell us apart finally if you go bald and Tell stays ugly,” Gig adds to the conversation. Tell and Ben just glare at him while the rest of us at the table burst into a laughing fit.

“I’m working on it. I feel like the retired guys are calling me everyday for updates because they hate texting. I’ve never spoken on the phone this much in my life! I’m almost about to give them the number to the contractor. I feel like if the guys start blowing up their phones, my completion date will get pushed up weeks sooner instead of them calling to tell me about all the setbacks. I mean, who can say no to a bunch of sweet old guys?” She sounds like she started out joking, but by the end of her statement, she looks like she’s actually considering it.

“By ‘sweet old guys,’ you are referring to the group of retired mercenaries, right?” Tell asks in a curious voice.

“Well, yeah, but they’re really just a bunch of big teddy bears that killed a bunch of people for most of their lives. And they tell the best dad jokes that I have ever heard,” Willow says like it’s common knowledge.

After dinner, her brothers do the dishes with her “supervising” them, but she actually just sits on top of her kitchen island, swinging her feet and hanging out with them. Michael plants himself next to me in the living room in front of the fireplace, looking at the pictures on the mantel of Willow and Mom.

The first one that I noticed was when Willow was sick, probably the first time because of how small and frail she looked. It’s a picture of them in a hospital bed. Willow has a bald head, and they are snuggled up, sleeping.

“I took that when Willow was seven. She had just started a new round of chemo, and Lilly was there every night for the first week. Every morning, when I would go to check on them, that’s how I found them,” Michael says in a soft voice, looking at the picture with a distant gaze in his eyes.

I noticed that he tried to hold it back every time someone brought up Mom at dinner. “She would have loved to see you here with her other kids. How are you doing with all of this? I know that it was a lot dumped on you all at once,” he adds, still staring at the picture.

I think heavily about how to say what I feel for a minute. He didn’t get upset that I didn’t answer right away, never rushing me like Griz would when I think my answers through.

“It was a shock. I wish that she would have tried to come to me before she died. I know I didn’t have the best feelings towards her, but I would like to think that I would have heard her out.”

“I understand that. It was one of the topics that we disagreed on towards the end. She told the other kids awhile after she got her diagnosis. I think she had to wrap her head around it, and knowing your mother, plan all of her next moves in excruciating detail. She always had to think everything through.

“When she told the kids, they didn’t take it well. The boys wanted to come home and help take care of her, but she made them stay. She tried to get Willow to do more out of the house instead of taking care of her. She said she didn’t want her kids to watch her die. She wanted them to remember her with the same amount of life that she always had, not a version of her wasting away that would haunt them.

“She didn’t want you to only have that memory of her. She worked hard over the years to build up those memories that she left for you and wanted you to have that Mom to think of,” he says in a sad voice.

After a moment, he looks away from the picture and turns to me. “I’m sorry that you lost her before you two could have something. She was an excellent mother and human being in general. She spoke about how much she wished that you could be with us almost every day. I understand if the boys and I are too much for you to call family right now. But I am so glad that you are willing to give Willow a chance. She is just like your mom. She cares for everyone that’s in her circle, and she doesn’t have a selfish bone in her body. I hope, at some point, you would be open to giving your brothers and me a chance, too. But from what I have seen and heard tonight, you, Jackson, are a good man. You need to know that Lilly was always so proud to be your mom.” He plants his hand on my shoulder, squeezes it, and walks away.